"While Growing up in the '70s and '80s, I played the drums, and I listened to everyone from Tommy Aldridge (my favorite) to Metallica's Lars Ulrich, Styx's John Panozzo, Journey's Steve Smith, Jefferson Starship's Aynsley Dunbar, jazzman Billy Cobham, Rush's Neil Peart and Van Halen's Alex Van Halen."

I also got into Sib Hashian from the band Boston, whom I haven't heard about since his appearance on Sammy Hagar's 2003 "Live Hallelujah" CD.

I recently received a notice that Sib, born John Hashian, was in a new group called Ernie & the Automatics.

Needless to say, I was interested.

The band — Hashian, former Boston and RTZ guitarist Barry Goodreau, former RTZ keyboardist/vocalist Brian Maes, John Cafferty & the Beaver Brown's saxophonist Michael "Tunes" Antunes and founder Ernie Boch Jr. — released its first full-length CD, "Low Expectations" on Open E Records a few weeks ago.

The CD hit No. 7 on Billboard Magazine's Top Blues Album charts. It currently sits at No. 10.

Boch, the CEO of Boch Enterprises in Norwood, Mass., who studied music at Boston's Berklee College of Music, struck up a friendship with Hashian a few years ago.

"A mutual friend introduced us," said Boch during a phone call from his office. "And when Sibby found out I played guitar, he kept asking me when we were going to jam

"I finally caved in, and we got to jamming, and it was a lot of fun. And Sibby said, 'I bet my friend would be interested in jamming with us.' "

That friend was Goodreau.

"I thought to myself, 'This is insane!' " said Boch.

The jam sessions continued, and Goodreau recruited his RTZ bandmate Brian Maes to do vocals and keyboards, and then they all decided they needed a saxophonist and called up Antunes.

Needless to say, Boch was in awe.

"Even today I look around at the band and know that they have all collectively sold 30 million albums in their lifetime," he said.

After playing gigs around the Boston area — their first show was opening for Los Lobos and the second gig was opening for B.B. King — the band decided to talk about recording a CD.

"We had been playing cover tunes through all this," said Boch. "So we decided to write our own songs and make a CD."

The band walked into the studio on Feb. 17, 2008, and "Low Expectations" was released nationally a year to the day later.

The album is a solid blues-based rock album that features songs such as the Motown-flavored "If I'd a Let You," the snakily dark and colorful "Hong Kong Shuffle," the jazz-club feel of "Fly in the Milk" and a sax-driven explosive number called "Let It Go."

While the band was pieced together with no real goal in mind, Boch said there is a goal now.

"We want to win a Grammy," he said.

And, after listening to the CD nonstop, I do believe they could.